The purpose for this blog is to share my thoughts, hopes dreams, lessons learned ext. I hope that in some way my experience will bring some comfort to others. Just remember you are not alone in your situation find your peace that passes all understanding and have fun with your life no matter where you are.

About Me

Sunday, April 15, 2012

A better view on Mexican health care and the current state of my life.

Ok so my last post about the Hospitals here was a bit bitter. I'm finding that most of my issues at the hospital are all due to one individual. You see you have to deal with stupid people no matter where you work. So the truth about the system here is that its actually getting better. I don't remember if I explained before but all the public hospitals and clinics work by the same standards as in the states. The guys who wrote the standards for Mexico learned from The Joint Commission which is the group that does most of the certifying of hospitals in the US. But they do still do things differently. They find ways to reach the standards without all the cost. Now the Government is requiring even the private hospitals to follow the same standards in able to become certified by them. Its not quite a requirement yet to get this certification but its obvious that soon enough it will be. The small private hospital I work for is trying hard to comply with these standards. My original Job description was as an assistance to this process. But I quickly learned that without earned trust and respect my word counted for nothing regardless of my experience. I requested and have received a new Job description which will basically put me as a supervisor or in the states what was seen as a Head Charge Nurse. They are also finally giving me the orientation and time of learning on the floor that I requested. I have already spent a couple weeks on one of the normal units, and in the ER. My next steps are to learn the ins and outs of ICU, OR, and the Nursery. The person that I struggle to work with, due to her ethics, will be my work partner once I'm done with my training. This will pose as a major hurdle for me but its not something I cant handle. Some of our first steps to help us reach the standards will be better documentation, and education for the nursing staff. These are things I have been pushing for since the first day and will still take some time to finish but I can see a bright future for our hospital and many others. The director of our hospital is also the director of an association of about 20 private hospitals all over our state. His plan is for all of us to work together and standardize our efforts. Meaning that the paperwork and process of all the hospitals will be the same. This will be a huge effort but I think its an excellent goal. As I have said before as far as treatment and education of the doctors here its fairly equal to the states. One of the biggest differences that was hard for me at first is that nurses do less here and doctors do more. I see the benefits to this but being a nurse who loved the technical procedures it was a little bitter for me at first. But the patients love it.

As a quick update on our family and home life, obviously Im still working my 40 hours a week at the hospital and I teach English about 6 hours a week. We figured out we would actually be saving money if my husband stayed at home with our girls and teaches a few hours of Spanish every week on the side. Day care for three kids at the cheapest place we could find was costing us more than our rent, and as is usually the case with parents they just were not up to our standards. My husband is starting a bit of a freelance project with these Spanish classes. Basically we have some friends down here who have to learn and soon. There is an international medical program down here. The first two years of their classes are mainly in English but the last two years are all Spanish. So he has put together and program and will be starting with his first three students on Monday. We looked around at prices and we are basically charging half of what all the schools or other programs are charging. The down falls to our program is that we don't offer any type of certificate. The upside is that its real communication Spanish with a cultural twist. He plans on adding in common phrases and such that people wouldn't learn from a more structured class. Its basically the same idea that is behind my English lessons. So far my students love it so we are hoping his catches on. So things are going pretty good for us at the moment and my girls are all growing strong, healthy and smart. Really life is good. God has been very good to us and is constantly providing for each new step in our lives.

Wow Amanda, things really have gotten better. You have an amazing staying power, such an ability to always hang in there, waiting for things to improve. This is a great post. Thank you so much for updating us. If i ever need surgery again (knock on wood that I don't), we're coming to Guadalajara, to your hospital, and I'm asking for you! Seriously, I'm done with going NOB for operations.

Amanda, I've followed your blog for at least several years now (the time goes so fast, it's hard to keep track!) and I just have to say that reading your post it's amazing how far you have come. I don't know you personally but I've come to know you through your blog and I just have to say WOW! You have really found a place for yourself in Mexico and you are doing amazing, important and meaningful work there. Kudos to you for all of your hard work and blessings to you and your family :)

Stephanii- Thanks as with any independent project it will take some time to build up but I have a lot of hope for it. Jennifer- I often read your blog posts and dont comment. Thanks for speaking up. ;) Its such a great place to be when you know that things you may not see as blessings, truly are. Gail as always you find a way to boost me up and help me to maintain my positive thinking. Laura- Thanks so much for reading and sticking with me through this crazy time of learning to live here. I appreciate your words and even more that you continue to follow. This blog has so often given me strength when at times I was just done.